Mesmerized
by FloatingSky
Summary: Modern P&P-Ballet might have been Elizabeth Bennet's first love, but seeing her dance was what brought her her last.


Elizabeth Bennet slid one pale, slender leg out of her mother's heated red Audi before snatching it back up again, wishing she was wearing something a little more substantial than her standard pair of thin white stockings. The Rosings Park's school uniform, like most things about the institution, proved more aesthetical than functional in the winter months.

"Get out please, Lizzie." Her mother said, slumped over against the steering wheel in her dressing gown. Mrs. Bennet was much more of a late riser. "I didn't get up at 6:30 this morning for nothing."

"_Al_right." She mumbled under her breath, casting a quick glance out at the snow- flakes piling up on the dead, brown grass. "I'm going, mamma."

Elizabeth scrambled out of the car, intending to make a run for it into the brick school building up ahead, the same one that her sister Jane was almost at the front door of.

"Jane!" She called, cursing her sister's long legs. It wasn't Lizzie's fault she was a good three inches shorter than her other sisters, none of whom were all that tall to begin with. "Jane! Wait up."

She hurried, running faster across the gravel path that crunched beneath her feet, clad in a pair of cute black ballet flats not at all appropriate to the weather.

"Oh, thank God." Lizzie muttered on reaching the white-painted doors with a shining gold plack that read Rosings Park College across the top.

She pushed them open, reveling in the warmth that overtook her for a few seconds before beginning to look around for her sister.

"Boo!" Jane whispered in her ear, coming up behind her.

Elizabeth didn't even bother to turn around, "Nice one, Janie. But we have no time for childish games here at Rosings Park." She sniffed, turning her nose up into the air, "Perhaps, we should be heading up to Cow de Bourgh's office instead."

"De Bourgh's not that bad." She said, "Just a tad old-fashioned."

Lizzie snorted, "A little? She's a complete _absolute_ monster, but we won't argue there. It's useless. I'm so excited we're getting a new student!" She finished with an abrupt change of subject, grinning. One of de Bourgh's relatives was coming to Rosings Park, and she was the one who got to show him around! "We're going to be in _all_ the same classes."

"I can't remember the last time we had someone new here. Not starting so late." Jane mused.

Elizabeth gave a good-natured shrug, "At least there's someone now though! And he's bound to be more exciting than half the blokes here. Related to De Bourgh after all."

"It's a he then?"

"Don't quote me on it," She said, "But I heard it from a good source."

"Emma Woodhouse?"

Lizzie's grin was wicked as the two of them approached the Headmistress' office, "Could be...besides, she's given me her word he's not too horrible."

Jane just laughed, "Well, we'll find out soon enough, won't we...but I better get going now. I've arranged tutoring with Professor Grosvenor." She stuck her tongue out. "Make sure to introduce me to the new kid, though. Like at lunch or something, for sure."

Lizzie flashed her a quick smile, turning the knob into Headmistress de Bourgh's office. "I'll see what I can do." She winked, shutting the door behind her.

"You're Miss Bennet?" The receptionist asked as soon as she came in, not even glancing up from the monitor of her computer screen, "Go right in."

She nodded her thanks, and gave a slight knock before entering.

"Miss Elizabeth, " The Headmistress declared, rising from her seat. "I would like to introduce you to my nephew, William Darcy. He'll be starting at Rosings Park today."

She gave a slight curtsy, the grace of which Cotillion, for lack of a better phrase, had beaten into her. "How do you do?"

So he was her nephew. She would never have guessed based on their looks.

He acknowledged her with a nod before turning back to examine his nails, well cut and filed for a sixteen year old boy.

Headmistress de Bourgh glared at him, as she did most people who didn't meet her ridiculous standards of behavior.

After standing there for a couple more seconds, Elizabeth opened her mouth, "Can I go ahead, and take him on the tour, Headmistress? Class is starting in not much more than an hour." She prompted, even though she had a free period for first.

"Yes, well, go ahead then, and make sure to introduce him to his teachers. I understand you two have the same schedule?"

"Yes m'am, we do."

"Excellent. William's a wonderful student, and an even better performer. I'm sure you two will get along _fabulously_."

"You're into theater then? Or music?" She asked, astonished.

"Both." She was surprised to find that his voice was rather pleasant, a smooth deep baritone.

Believing he could sing wouldn't be hard.

"Ah..." Lizzie was enticed enough to give him a once over, taking in his hair, lighter than her own, that curled over his forehead, the longer tendrils emphasizing his high cheekbones. Despite his excellent bone structure, however, he had a reserved air about him that made her doubt his abilities as an actor. Still, there were no doubts about him in the looks department.

She shook her head to regain her composure, "What do you play?"

"Piano. Some cello."

"Cello's nice, but it's a little to deep. I prefer the violin." She chatted on, tucking a piece of hair back behind her ear.

"Most people do."

"Because it's prettier." She declared, though she knew little of the other stringed instruments. She hadn't even been to violin lessons since Year Seven, or before. Music wasn't something that came easy to her.

"We have all our classes together." Elizabeth tried again, after the ensuing silence.

"Aunt said."

She gave up for the moment, walking him down to the front entrance hall without another attempt at conversation.

"The theater's to the right. And the musical rooms are behind it." She showed him, pointing a little further down the corridor. "Be warned, though, I'm the worst in our class."

He didn't comment, continuing to stare straight ahead.

"You can't miss the cafeteria, of course; it's the first set of doors after the entrance hall-the big ones right over there."

"Foreign languages, and English are near each other too-sort of close to the cafeteria. But economics is on the other side of the school, near the hard sciences, and mathematics. You've got a locker there as well." She informed him, after checking the clipboard with his schedule on it.

"You've been here before, though, right?" Lizzie asked him curiously,

Darcy nodded.

"So am I just repeating myself?"

"No-I don't know all the particulars, of course."

"Good. I'd hate to think that all my knowledge of this fine institution was going to waste." She smirked,

"Rest assured," He said with little emotion, "That itt's not."

Elizabeth giggled.

"And this is the French classroom." She began, starting up again, and giving Jane a slight wave through the window. "Professor Grosvenor teaches it, but her real name's-"

"Professor Hawkins, I'm aware."

She managed to look surprised, "Yeah, she's a bit of a strange one, isn't she? Caught up in herself."

"Quite." He conceded, though she noticed he was rather uncomfortable.

"Better than the Latin teacher, though. We don't get half as much homework, just a lot of oral stuff mostly."

"That's good."

"Yeah, it's fun class. Emma and I have it together. Emma Woodhouse. You two know each other?"

"A little." He admitted, looking now at the floor rather than his hands, "Our mothers were friends."

"I never met her mother." She changed the subject, "Do you know anyone else here at Rosings Park?"

"I know a couple of people." He didn't bother elaborating.

Lizzie interrupted their conversation of sorts, stopping to point out his locker.

"It's not in that convenient an area, but at least it won't be crowded during class changes." She told him with an attempt to be positive. It was near the mathematics wing, where most of the Year 10 and below lockers were. Lizzie had been thrilled when she reached Year 11, and got out of those requirements. She was much more of a liberal arts girl.

"It's fine."

"Not too bad, no, but the thought of algebra makes me want to gag."

"I liked algebra alright." Darcy shrugged, "I wanted to go on to pre-cal."

Ugh. She couldn't think of much worse than pre-calculus...excepting regular calculus, of course.

"Economics is as far as I'm willing to go in that direction." Elizabeth told him, rounding the corner to said class. "See how far it is?"

"About five minutes."

"Our breaks are eight, so it's no picnic." She retorted, thinking of how unpleasant it was to make the hike after lunch. "And you've longer legs besides. But I prefer Theater...don't feel Economics is much worth the walk."

"Do you do musical theater too?"

"Professor Stuart is teaching me to sing, but I'm not having much luck." Lizzie admitted, "I'm better at dance."

"Ah. That's where we're different then."

"You don't like it? Or-"

He gave a slight shake of his head,

"That's too bad. Ballet is so...freeing." She explained to the last person on Earth who looked like he wanted to be freed, "One with the music, and all that."

He stared at her, looking up for the first time in disbelief that someone would _choose_ to take a dance class. "I've never done ballet, but like I said, I don't dance."

"Ever?"

"Not as a general rule no."

Lizzie couldn't imagine not dancing; even it was just shaking her hips to songs on the radio. It was something she'd been doing since almost before she could walk, and the ballet bar was like an old friend to her. Plie, pirouettes, the all of it.

"Your loss." Elizabeth told him, "It's a great bit of fun, and we're doing auditions for _Giselle _soon. I'm going out for the lead."

"_Giselle_?" He asked, "I saw that when I was five, or six. It was alright."

"Alright? It's brilliant. It was good enough for _Anna Pavlova_." She exclaimed.

It seemed they had a lot to learn about each other.

"You're more into music, though." Elizabeth allowed, as the two of them walked back down the steps to the main entrance hall, starting to fill with students.

"I am."

"You should perform with the orchestra then. The music's beautiful."

"You like classical then?"

"Yeah," She grinned, "But I'm bigger into the Rolling Stones."

"Rock n' roll is pop music that's been around long enough people consider it acceptable." He stated. "I can't stand it."

Lizzie laughed, starting to scan for her friends in the crowd, "You must not have heard Keith Richards then."

She spotted Charlotte talking with another girl named Jane, from her music class, and was about to go over, and say hello when the two Bingley sisters approached them.

"Darcy!" So Caroline called him by his last name too...how strange, "Charlie didn't tell us you were starting Rosings Park today."

"We didn't think you were coming until next week. Monday, or Tuesday even." Louisa added,

He chalked it up to, "It was a sudden change."

"I'm sure it must have been." Her phrasing was delicate, and she gave a slight nod toward Elizabeth. "I'm surprised the Headmistress didn't ask me to give you a tour." Louisa intoned, "Seeing as I'm Head Girl."

"Darcy, and I have all our classes together." Lizzie explained, meanwhile thinking of an escape plan. Darcy, she could bare alone, but Darcy _and_ the Bingley girls was asking a little much.

Patience is a virtue, she reminded herself,

"But I thought you took ballet?"

"He has a free period then."

"Ah."

Lizzie wondered if Caroline was thinking about how good he'd look in a leotard as she stared off into space. He did have nice legs, after all.

As soon as the thought passed through her head, she scolded herself. _"You shouldn't be thinking those things, Lizzie. For God's sake."_

"As thrilling as this conversation is," She gave a broad smile to lighten the sting of her words, "I see Emma's over there, so I'm gonna go talk to her for a few minutes before the bell rings, if you don't mind. I'll come back for you, yeah, Darcy?"

His upper lip curled, "I'll find my own way, thanks."

"Um, alright then."

She felt a little bad about leaving him with Louisa, and Caroline, but he could handle for himself. Not like he'd been the politest of companions.

"Hey, Emma!" Lizzie called,


End file.
